Inside 68: Dawn of a New Season (or two)

[Devixer]

Of Errants and Ronin

The woman who carried the uchigatana on her hip, Keiko sighed and shaded her eyes at seeing all the lights on all the buildings and cars and everything else.

"It certainly is a wonder of some kind," she says. "I remember even when I went to a place of relative peace in this city, it was still so noisy."

[5a Violista]

[The Palace Fight]

As the sword flies towards the catgirl and she hears it whizzing through the air, she instinctively brings her hands up to try to protect her head even though it wouldn't have really helped either way.

Luckily!
Luckily the android was there. "O-of course," Marin replies, bringing her hands down. She quickly considers what the best way to lift the android would be...and then steps around to behind the kneeling android. She puts her arms around her chest-area and...pulls upwards, trying to get both of them to stand up.

...
This isn't exactly inspiring confidence in her. Sure, she has fast reflexes and can catch flying things mid-air, but if she can hardly stand up then...what? They'll have to lure the beast towards them? "Let's hope this works."

[Rebonack]

[Darkness Falls II - Bazaar]

Is it a coincidence that Myriam is here with her completely normal and not at all remarkable pet lamb? She blends in pretty easily, all things considered. She looks like your typical half-elf, in their annoyingly pretty sort of way. She's not wearing her armor at the moment, though. It's hot and heavy and she left it at the inn she was staying at because she isn't expecting to get attacked by killer robots today.

That might be a foolish assumption.

We'll see.

Derelith the lamb is currently draped across Myriam's shoulders like a little woolly scarf.

Considering how small the lamb is, that beats getting trampled by the crush of bodies in the market place.

She pauses at a booth selling an eclectic array of lava lamps, contemplating their purpose.

People sure do make some weird things, don't they?


[Docks]

Geneva's eyes go wide when the big flaming dinosaur turns around and bits his own tail.

~What are you doing stop you're hurting yourself!~ comes her panicked telepathic plea as she unconsciously darts a bit closer. But then...

Stuff happens.

Blood spurts from the bite wound and now it's a pile of trinkets!

Granted, that isn't the weirdest thing Geneva has seen recently, but it's still pretty weird.

Somewhat tentatively, a pink haze surrounds the collection of objects, lifting them into the air. Geneva eyes them for a moment, then slips the tiny bangle over her tail. The rest are stored in her inventory spell. It looks like there should be enough for other members of the group.

And as soon as she puts on the ring?

Geneva feels hot. Like... burning hot. Tongues of flame lick along her telekinetic field. This could be... this could be really helpful! She only has so much elemental power to fuel her flame-thrower ability. If her basic psionics can light things up, she'll be able to stay in the fight MUCH longer before she's exhausted.

~Thank you, Mister Dinosaur. I think I saw you at the Spooktober party? Stay safe, alright?~

Does she need to tell giant burning dinosaurs to stay safe?

Seems like the right thing to do.

Loot in tow, Geneva zips off after Calm Reed.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Sunny Side of the Moon?]

Corvus nods, listening intently.

"Creation is...less advanced, shall we say, than many places here in the Nexus. I am not surprised to hear that you can no longer hear those Messengers; the Second Breath has probably displaced whatever hold they may have had on you. But, perhaps that's a good thing. Your life, its sounds to me, wasn't very much your own before you came the Nexus, and perhaps this is just the final step towards changing that."

[bc56]

Bazaar

There don't seem to be any of the killer robots here, although other robots are common enough. An engineer tinkers with a quadcopter at one booth, and at another, a pair of robots sell motor oil and batteries. Robot customers also move between the stands, carrying all manner of goods.
Jack and Tao can go about their business undisturbed for now.
However, Myriam is not so lucky. The device she was given in the library begins to buzz and whirr noisily. If she pulls it out, it will immediately begin gently tugging her towards a cluster of stands a short distance from the main part of the Bazaar.

[Arkhosia]

Of Errants and Ronin

"Well, there remains some merit to take from the clutter and din," the spirit in the blade muses, her tone unfailingly chipper. "If as much goes on in this place as it does sound, then we shall have no issue discovering work and heroics with which to establish our worth and make a legend!"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Dibbles and Dobbers on the Case!]

The door is easily pushed open, revealing an absolutely lavish parlor of a place that probably wouldn't fit into the house they saw from the outside. Dark exotic fabrics line the walls alongside paintings and mirrors, and the whole place smells lightly of incense and...something else familiar.

Several hallways extend to their left and right, but down the middle seems to be a huge pool instead of an ordinary hallway. The bellowing seems to be coming from the right hallway- no, closer no-
Barreling into the room comes an extremely large person with a similar shape to Dobbers, only somehow making even Melvin look small. The enormous hippo-person is clad in what looks suitable for swimming and not much else, and dwarfs even Dibbles' partner in height, weight, and width.
He also appears to be streaming sparks from his eyes, hands, nose, and possibly even his feet as he runs about in a literal blind panic, bumping into every wall and desk possible.

"There you two are! You're late! How did you manage to be late to a predestined event? Ugh, fine. Just push him into the pool, will you? Poor lad guzzled the wrong potion and I'm stuck in this sigil and can't come help. Don't tarry now, I imagine it's quite painful for him." quips a tiny purple ball floating above their heads.

Dobbers, predictably, tarries.

[Dib and Dob to the Rescue?]

Tarrying? Two such fine officers of the law as Dibbles and Dobbers? Perish the th-

Yeah, Dibbles tarries too.

The were-yak looks around in confusion, mumbling awkwardly, eventually choosing to just stare blankly at the purple floaty ball. "Ah, wha-?"

[Earl of Purple]

Bazaar

Jack has finished her stew, and flies down. She's quite obvious as she flies, so one of the others might spot her- she's less likely to spot them, hiding in the crowd as they are. She lands near a stall selling a collection of earrings, and stops to have a look. It's totally impractical, for Jack; her ears are unpierced, and as birds don't have any external spots to pierce, she doesn't think she could easily wear them. But... But they do look very pretty.

The Palace- Fight

Jack doesn't quite dare dart in to retrieve her shovel, so she leaves that behind. She reaches into a pocket and pulls out her back-up weapon; a set of brass knuckles she slips over her right hand. They've not felt right on her left since she lost a finger. She'll then fly in as it tries the death roll and... Quite can't bring up the courage to actually try punching the doom-robot.

[Shadowcaller]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

"Look, we don't have time to [firetruck] about," Blanche states, stepping forward. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but there's a massive one of these things flailing about out there. If we don't get the ordinance we need to send it back to the Stone Age, it won't [caress]in' matter whether or not you've kept those things off your boat. Matter of fact, it won't matter for tens of thousands of folks and their own metaphorical boats."

Her tone turns harsher as she continues, taking another step toward the other guard and staring him down. "And if you're so dead-set on making sure your crew doesn't get the recognition of helping VIGIL save those tens of thousands of lives, We can make sure the rest of the Nexus knows just who's responsible."[/COLOR]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

The goblins suddenly don't seem to be sure wherever to aim their guns at Anika or Blanche as the catgirl despite her far lesser stature have even more colorful language than the druid. At least the big fancy-eye was easy going, but this gal sounded like she was so high-strung right now that she'd kill a man for snoring.
They look at one another, the goblin to the right shrugging. "Hey! BOSS!" He yells without turning around.

"WHAT?!" Comes a voice from the other side of the boat.

"SOME HEROES WANTS US TO SAVE THE DAY!"

"TELL THEM WE'RE KINDA BUSY!"

"I DID BUT THEY'RE PRETTY INSISTENT ON IT!" The goblin takes a deep breath and mumbles something about killing for a glass of water.

From the working crew a goblin with a hat nearly as big as he's tall emerges, that's how you can tell he's the boss. His eyes narrows as he sees Anika.
"Oh, it's you again."

Anika smirks and crosses her arms over her chest confidentially. "Yep, and we need more bombs. So unless you want-"
But the captain interrupts her the moment he spots Blanche. "Wait, is that a catgirl?"
The druid blinks and glances at Blanche. "Huh?"
"Oh gosh, it is. She even has those silly ears." The goblin marches right up to her, or well, as close as he dares as they all seem to want a few meters of distance between them and the two. "You with VIGIL? Can you say 'nyan'?"
The two guards squirm uncomfortably at the mention of this.

[Deathkeeper]

Dibbles and Dobbers to the Delay!

And so our heroes-
Just kind of stand there awkwardly.
"Oh come on, don't stand there gawking! That charm is very painful you know!" "AAAAAAAAAAAHH!" "See! Please don't tell me I was wrong about two things today..."

Speaking of potentially failing, the huge were-hippo turns in the direction of the voices that he can barely hear over the sparks and attempts to follow them.
But since he's manically running about, that means that there's a huge, sweaty therianthrope charging straight at them.

Dobbers immediately jumps to the defense of his partner, placing himself squarely in the path. But he'll probably not be able to hold off the bigger hippo on his own.

Intersection Briefing

The papers have been stacked, the coffee served, and the briefings prepared.
Having been provided information from a HALO informant, Intersection is prepared to move on the Embassy of New Inside, ("Which is still an incredibly misleading name by the way" "That will be all, Detective Simmons.") and interrogate the agents whose identities have been provided. Teams will monitor all entrances and exits as surreptitiously as possible while the quiet team enters on pretense of normal investigations and attempts to glean information from the agents without tipping them off about the information Intersection already has. Discretion is key, since it's entirely possible even the agents aren't aware of their government's involvement in the development and release of the virus. If necessary, or if guilt is confirmed, the embassy can be sealed off with its occupants inside.

"Given the nature of these people, we've chosen you as the lead for the forward team, Detective Michalson. It's your call who you'd like to send with you. We have plenty of officers who are, or look, human, if you want to play their game. But no one would blame you for bringing someone tough for if things go sideways." explains Commissioner Richards, in rare form today. That is to say, he's in his human form, which is rare.

[Arkhosia]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

The captain seems to throw Blanche for quite a loop, knocking her out of the rough and aggressive composure she initially bore - this was very much not the sort of treatment she was used to. Her ears flatten somewhat, and she takes a step back with a puzzled look.
"Er, yes and no - I am with VIGIL, but I don't talk like that."

[Morty]

[Sunny Side of the Moon?]

"That's a fair way of saying it," Sophie says with a nod. "Grim as it may sound, I'd probably be dead by now if I hadn't been brought here. I built a life for myself and being made Exalted... well, we'll see where it gets me." She reaches out to shake his hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Corvus, and thank you for explaining a thing or two to me. I'll be sure to drop by your dojo later."

[Intersection Briefing]

"I reckon we ought to play it safe until we're sure we've got somethin'" Michalson says after some thought. "So I'd rather take someone who's not going to make 'em peery. Or more peery than they'll already be."

[Shady Park]

It's well known that parks in the Nexus are used for clandestine meetings, deadly encounters and assorted disasters far more often than they are used for leisure, health or even good old-fashioned truancy. This occasion is of the first category. The King in Rags is waiting here, but people other than the one he's expecting might find it difficult to see him. He seems to be lost in the contours of the trees, the ground and the sunset-colored sky.

[Leostales]

[Industrial Complex]

"Sorry," says Muun, suddenly aware of his attention. "I was just catching my breath. Let's go." He makes sure that the gun he borrowed from Jaahlyn is still loaded

The Palace Fight

Metalhead tries to grab those directly in the monster's death roll path and fly them to safety. He only has room for one person, though.

[Recaiden]

Okay, it turns out he shouldn't have been afraid of this place.

Since getting here, he's traded away his spoon collection, mysterious tome, mummified body, amulet, fossils, and monocle (he's still looking for someone who wants the cat statue, a gambler who wants the coin-like die, and a wizard to unravel the magic cube).
In exchange, he's gotten intact pants that match the rest of his outfit (Even if the size is off), a bandolier of munitions, a sackful of food, some camping supplies, a map (which probably will be out of date tomorrow (but he doesn't know that)), and a toy car which he felt drawn to for no reason he can name.

Oh hey.
Is that. It is!
That's that bird....person. Jack.
He creeps over to the jewelry stall, suddenly unsure about even talking to Jack, but it would look silly to turn away now.
"Hey. Small town, huh?"

[Shadowcaller]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

Anika moves in front of Blanche and points an accusing finger at the captain. "Yeah! She doesn't talk like your weird fetishes, buddy!" She accuses, having no idea what he's talking about.

The captain is busy almost giggling like a little school girl however while gesturing at Blanche's ears. "Lookit! Them ears are dropping!" He turns to look at his guards. "Isn't that just the cutest?!"

"Uh, y-yes, boss." The first guard claims even though she looks more afraid of the catgirl than anything.
The second guard gives a curt nod however. "Totally cutiepie, boss."

The captain giddily claps his hands, though his enthusiasm fades as he turns his attention back to Anika as the druid loudly clears her voice and taps her non-existent wrist-watch. "Ahem, Alright, so you just cost us a fortune you crazy broad but I'm willing to offer your adorable friend here the same contract as you for more bombs. Just don't get on board the ship, okay? We take the bombs to you."

Anika moves back to her original position and glances at Blanche. "Okay, sounds cool. Right?"

[Slii Arhem]

[Clarkburn Apartments]

Somewhere behind her, horrible things are happening across Inside. She just watched a woman turn into an artillery piece and shell a giant flesh-thing. She should be out there helping. What, a little brush with a death deity and you're out of action, angel? What good are you? You don't have time to rest, do you? Lives could be lost because you're too busy feeling tired to just keep helping.

No time for that.

No time to cry.

Just bottle the pain up. Let it out later. You're not allowed to feel sorry for yourself yet. Mo asked you to do this. It's just fetching someone for her. You can manage at least that much, can't you?

Ithuriel comes in for a very rough landing outside the apartment block, one wing catching slightly as tired muscles refuse to cooperate, sending her tumbling across the ground in a heap in front of the entrance. She groans and picks herself up, walking over to the door and pressing the buzzer for 3A. "Here's hoping for an answer."

Clarkburn Apartments

It takes a long time for anyone to answer the buzzer, and even when the voice crackles to life over the speaker, there's still some clanging in the background, "Alright Big Mo', what sort of trouble did you get yourself into this time? Lose your keys again? I swear if it's another mongrel you just happened to find in the scrapyard I'm calling animal control, you know this place doesn't let you keep pets." The audio stays open with a hiss and crackle, waiting expectantly for a reply. Hilda's got a big, brash voice that cuts right to the point, but it's clear she's worried. Mo should have been home ages ago.

[Arkhosia]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

If Anika glances back at Blanche as the boss fawns over her ears, she may catch the briefest flash of injury in her expression. She glances away and her ears wilt before her composure recovers - or at least her facade does.

"Well, I'm more than happy to, but could I get a look at what I'll be signing exactly." The catgirl's tone lightens on the very least, though her arms stay crossed.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Sunny Side of the Moon?]

Corvus takes it and shakes it firmly with a smile.

"The pleasure was mine, Sophie. Please, don't be a stranger. I'm always happy to share what I know."

[Reinholdt]

[Shady Park]

It's well known that parks in the Nexus are used for clandestine meetings, deadly encounters and assorted disasters far more often than they are used for leisure, health or even good old-fashioned truancy. This occasion is of the first category. The King in Rags is waiting here, but people other than the one he's expecting might find it difficult to see him. He seems to be lost in the contours of the trees, the ground and the sunset-colored sky.

[Shady Park]

A tan, brown haired nymph in a yellow sundress arrives here. Ilpholin apparently didn't get the message this was supposed to be clandestine based on the bright colors she wears, with exception to the black infinity bracelet upon her wrist. Still she seems to at least be aware of the King in Rags preferred meeting spot, heading immediately to where the trees' shade is darkest.

[Shadowcaller]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

Anika turns back to the goblin captain again, fury in her eyes. "Hey-"

But again...

"NIMY! THE DEAL MAKER! NOW!"

Almost immediately a goblin without any important headgear comes running with what appears to be a handheld computer and hands it over to the captain who in turn offers it to Blanche along with an electronic touch-pen. "Just sign there once you scrolled through..."

"Er, she's really supposed to read through all of it before signing." The new goblin quietly insists as the captain waves their concerns away. "Yeah, yeah, we all know how these things work. Just scroll to the end there." He shows with his fingers that the computer has a touch screen. Though Blanche could also scroll with the arrow keys on the keyboard.

The issue is that the contract is gigantic and the screen small. Scrolling will more often then not make her scroll way too far and make her miss important bits and pieces unless she scrolls back again.

On the surface, the term "goods in exchange for performance of the other party" seem to pop up a lot in it, to the wording makes it rather vague what this performance would be. In fact, it seems to be up to "the first party" to decide that. She would have to read it far more thoroughly to get any more idea what it's about though.
Anika is still up on the captains grill though, new accusatory fingers being pointed. "Buddy, don't you dare talk to my friend like that, kay'? She's super-badass so don't treat her like some kitty."

"Look, we're all friends now and we're helping one another. Don't be so high-strung, it's a really simple contract. No big deal." The captain insists. "The name is Kramokow by the way." He grins and make a finger-gun gesture towards them. "Remember it."

[Arkhosia]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

To her credit, Blanche does make an admirable attempt to read the entire contract. However, between the massive slog of legalese, the obtrusive scrolling system and the pressures of time, she soon gives up and signs the document. "There, it's signed. Now, can we get those explosives?"

Anika will earn a glance of appreciation, but the catgirl keeps it brief in the hopes that the goblins don't notice.

[Shadowcaller]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

"Great! Thanks friends! You won't regret it!" Kramokow takes the 'deal-maker' once Blanche has signed and hands it back to the quiet goblin who is mumbling something about 'lazy amateurs'.

Then the captain strides back towards the repair crew and raises his hands. "ALRIGHT PEOPLE! Change of priorities. Let's give these ladies all the bombs we have." As the crew is stuck staring at him for a moment, he claps twice. "Hup! Hup! Get working already you lazy bums!"

And so the goblins and their robots get to work filling up a huge metal container with explosives.

Meanwhile, Kramokow turns back to them and gestures at the container. "So, how do you want to transport all of this? I'm guessing you gals need a vehicle of some sort, eh?"

Anika seems to consider this, but no answer comes to her right away. Last time she had done this, it had been rather impractical...

[Industrial Complex]

"Right, we probably should find a defensible position or team up with someone, sir. We're vulnerable out here in the open." But despite her words of warning, she gestures towards the closest obvious skin walker. "Take the shot."

[Arkhosia]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

"Easy to insult people when you hold all the cards," Blanche snarks bitterly under her breath, her ears sharp enough to catch the muttered insult. She tries not to look too impressed as the goblins get to work, but the quantity of explosives does earn an eyebrow raise.

"Alright, hopefully this will be more than enough ordinance. We do have a vehicle for delivering the payload, but transport might need to be arranged." The catgirl thinks for a second, weighing the options that the team she's part of might be able to provide before raising Geneva on the comms. "Geneva, we've managed to acquire ordinance, but we'll need some help moving it. Do you think your telekinetic abilities might be able to handle it?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Intersection Briefing]

"I reckon we ought to play it safe until we're sure we've got somethin'" Michalson says after some thought. "So I'd rather take someone who's not going to make 'em peery. Or more peery than they'll already be."

[Intersection Briefing]

Nick nods.
"Then you ought to take one of our human officers. Or at least someone from T Division. I don't think their normal personnel would have the ability to sense a werecreature. I won't lie to you; we don't really know what you're walking into, so I can't really say I can recommend who to take with you. We're going to have to take an educated guess." Not many have exactly taken a tour of the Embassy.

[Morty]

[Intersection Briefing]

"I guess I'd prefer to have someone rorty who can take and give a punch of things go fiend-shaped," Michalson says, rubbing his chin. "Like you said, sir, we're kind of walkin' in blind and I'm not much of a brawler."

[Halae]

The Palace Fight

Everyone's efforts pay off, and despite Emily's wounds her retaliation ends up causing the sword-arm to fling off in the air as it is torn asunder. Thankfully her wounds aren't as bad as they could be with the enchanted shovel helping to deflect the other sword. Oil, hydraulic fluid, and another fluid of glowing blue sprays over the combatants, possibly obscuring their vision. Apart from tingling, the last fluid doesn't do anything so they won't need to worry. Not unless any of them can use it to channel their magic at any rate. The sword that was ripped away flies through the air, nearly hitting Marin, but it seems her new android friend has come to her senses enough to snatch it from the air and sheathe it in a single motion. The blade wasn't a perfect fit for her sheath, and it looked rather goofy with part of a magitek arm hanging off the end, but at least it wasn't a danger anymore. "Help me to my feet." The android asks. The best she'd managed on her own was getting to her knees to catch the blade and she seemed quite unstable.

For all the efforts however, it did mean that Emily was still grappling with a multi-ton monster that had one sword arm free. It doesn't attack with the sword again however as it takes time to pull the arm back. Instead, perhaps in a massive display of irony, it tightens the grip on Emily's hands and rolls its massive body down the slope as it attempts to drag the Croc-Woman down into a deathroll.

[The Palace Fight]

As the sword flies towards the catgirl and she hears it whizzing through the air, she instinctively brings her hands up to try to protect her head even though it wouldn't have really helped either way.

Luckily!
Luckily the android was there. "O-of course," Marin replies, bringing her hands down. She quickly considers what the best way to lift the android would be...and then steps around to behind the kneeling android. She puts her arms around her chest-area and...pulls upwards, trying to get both of them to stand up.

...
This isn't exactly inspiring confidence in her. Sure, she has fast reflexes and can catch flying things mid-air, but if she can hardly stand up then...what? They'll have to lure the beast towards them? "Let's hope this works."

[The Palace Fight]

Emily can't stop the robot from dragging her down into the pile of robot bits and rolled over. She won't be crushed quite that easily, but at the same time this is not a pleasant experience. In retaliation for this, she'll kick at the remaining sword arm that she doesn't have grappled, hard enough that it could break the shoulder mount for it.

Well, at least she's keeping the damn thing from attacking the others.

[Earl of Purple]

The Palace Fight

Jack's going to have to wait until the fight's moved away before she can reclaim her shovel, since she's considerably less survivable than Emily or the robot. Once she's got it again, she's... A little more stuck. She wants to help, but if the robot rolls onto her, she's pretty dead- unless she can get the shovel in the way and press the button, then she might not be dead. Either way, it's going to be tricky.

An idea occurs to her, and she flies over to reclaim her shovel- pressing the button as she grabs it, to avoid delays- flies over to the robotic snake-guardian and swoops down and tries to thrust with the shovel's blade. It's probably not the most effective tactic, but it's all Jack can think to do- and if she manages to distract it enough, she's helping.

[Shadowcaller]

The Docks - Goblin Talks

"Easy to insult people when you hold all the cards," Blanche snarks bitterly under her breath, her ears sharp enough to catch the muttered insult. She tries not to look too impressed as the goblins get to work, but the quantity of explosives does earn an eyebrow raise.

"Alright, hopefully this will be more than enough ordinance. We do have a vehicle for delivering the payload, but transport might need to be arranged." The catgirl thinks for a second, weighing the options that the team she's part of might be able to provide before raising Geneva on the comms. "Geneva, we've managed to acquire ordinance, but we'll need some help moving it. Do you think your telekinetic abilities might be able to handle it?"

The Docks - Goblin Talks

While Blanche is no doubt familiar with a lot of the explosives the goblins are stacking up, some of these bombs will be completely unfamiliar to her. They look a bit too advanced to be chemical in nature. Looks like some kind of energy bombs. Hopefully not the nuclear kind.

"We have two trucks but it's not the fastest mean of transportation if you catch my drift." The captain claims, for once able to withhold any comments about Blanche's cuteness. His eyes seem to be darting between her ears and tail though. He seems fascinated with her.

"Are you sure Geneva can just mind-lift all these bombs? Seems kinda crazy to me." Anika inquires as she watches the growing bomb-pile. "Maybe we should borrow some abandoned vehicle or something instead. Gotta be plenty of those around here now."

[Morty]

[Shady Park]

As Ilpholin heads for the darker parts of the park, the shadows and contours of the trees seem to shift just slightly, until they become the familiar figure with an antlered rat's head.

"Ilpholin. Admirably punctual," the King in Rags says. "I have an offer for you, but first... our previous deal was a bit more complicated than we had expected, in the end."

[Reinholdt]

[Shady Park]

"Well I wanted to get this out of the way quickly. Inside's a bit of a hotbed right now and I'd rather not get involved. The only disease I need to destroy are the demons." Not memes or skinwalkers.

Ilpholin folds her arms in front of her. "Yes, AMEN, as per usual, was a debacle." At least it's consistently a debacle. "What do you mean by offer?"